Reseeding with Seed Balls...our meadow and our life.

Feeling a little like that neglected acreage out there?  Forgotten.  Sparse.  Needing spruced up?  More weeds then true growth?

Our church has several acres that leads up a steep hill to the parking lot.  While the bottom area is beginning to flourish and grow beautiful native grasses the areas that have been stressed by the environment, the elements...and us are full of weeds and erosion.

We have worked hard to pull, rake and weed eat old dead weeds and now have sandy steep barren ground.  A place waiting for trouble or for planting.  This problem has been tumbling in my mind while at work or home.  The native grass seed and  wildflower seeds sat ready to go.  

Then I remembered my Mom telling me about Lady Bird's seed balls.  Seeds rolled into a mixture of clayey soil with a bit of compost and water.   These balls dry and then are "tossed" onto the area to be reseeded.

The potting soil became a centerpiece on our cement pad with the youth group, paper plates, pitchers of water and baggies of compost and seeds staggered around it.  After a brief dusting of potting soil on my lap, water spilled, a few clumps of mud thrown at a girl and we finally got going making our own little seed balls that we will throw on the hills.

Indian Grass, Side Oats Grama, Big Blue Stem, Echinacea, and packets of wildflowers were mixed in with Miracle Gro compost and mixed up!  With a few teaspoons of heavy potting soil, a teaspoon of the seed/compost mix and water enough to make it stick together and we created small (and large) pieces of art!  Sitting on the table on paper plates drying until we throw them out on Sunday.

Hopefully this little protective pod of seeds and soil will bring some much needed life to the hills!